2006-07 Hokie Hotline Notes for 10/02/06

The Hokie Hotline (football and basketball season)

When: Every Monday from 7:00-9:00 during football season, 7:00-8:00 during basketball season.

Where: Click here for a list of radio stations, and to find the link for listening to the show on the Internet (look to the right on the hokiesports.com page that loads when you click the link). You can also watch the archive on hokietv.com.

• There were a lot of missed opportunities for the offense. There was a
  dropped pass at midfield. Because of the drop, they had to punt, and the
  punt was blocked. They dropped a pass inside the five yard line. And they
  had a false start on fourth and inches. That will cost you a game.
• Elan Lewis is a bit bigger than Branden Ore, and he can take the pounding
  from Georgia Tech’s linebackers. Ore needed a break, and they didn’t
  want him to get hurt. Lewis did a good job when he was in here.
• It’s tough to run misdirection against Georgia Tech. You have no idea
  where they are blitzing from, and you might end up running the misdirection
  right into the teeth of the defense, which you don’t want to do.
• Stinespring said the offensive line did not give up a sack. They gave up a
  few hurries, but not a direct sack. He mentioned the fullback gave up one of
  the sacks. The tight ends didn’t do a very good job either.
• Sean Glennon did a great job of setting up the protections when he read
  blitz. He really did a good job of running the team. He is doing a great job
  of taking what the defense gives him.
• As a team, they aren’t doing a good enough job running the ball. Branden
  Ore has done a great job, but the running game as a whole hasn’t been as
  consistent as years past.
• The team is fine. Their heads are up. Losing is a part of the game. Now
  they just have to respond to it. That will decide how good this team will
  become.
• It was strange for the Hokies to pass the ball so much, but they were
  playing from behind. They also have to get better at running the ball. If
  you can run the ball, you have a chance to win any game that you play.

• The Orange Bowl used Saturday’s game as a promotional tool. They are
  moving to a different ACC stadium each week and promoting the game. The ACC
  Champion will automatically be in the Orange Bowl in the future, unless they
  are playing for the National Championship.
• It makes sense for the ACC to be affiliated with the Orange Bowl. It
  guarantees that a team from the east coast will play in Miami every season,
  and that will guarantee ticket sales for the Orange Bowl.
• Virginia Tech has the sixth largest student ticket allotment in the
  nation. There are no plans to take tickets away from the students and turn
  them into season tickets. Close to 17,000 tickets are allotted to students
  for every game.
• The reason that Virginia Tech doesn’t schedule night games for games
  that aren’t picked up by television is so fans who drive from a long
  distance away can attend the game. They did a marketing survey, and 1:30
  seems to be the best time for everyone.
• There is a very strong possibility that the Southern Miss game will be
  picked up by a television network. That will be announced next Monday, 12
  days before the game.
• Weaver doesn’t see Virginia Tech playing Penn State in the regular
  season. He has spoken to Army and Navy, but they are not interested. He
  wanted Army to play once in Blacksburg, once in West Point and once in
  Washington, D.C.

• Georgia Tech is very good. When Reggie Ball is playing well, they are “double
  trouble”. Calvin Johnson is a mismatch no matter how you defend him. They
  are using Reggie Ball better this year by letting him use his legs and run
  the ball.
• The Hokies lost the field position battle in the third quarter. That
  entire quarter was spent on one side of the field, and unfortunately, it was
  Virginia Tech’s side of the field.
• The Virginia Tech offense played better than they did the week before.
  Nobody is down. There are plenty of positive things to take away from the
  game. Beamer would have felt a lot worse if the Hokies had rolled over and
  not come back.
• The ACC is right back to opening day. Georgia Tech, and everybody else, is
  going to have a hard time going through the season without dropping a game
  or two in the ACC. The race is wide open. It’s what the Hokies do from
  here on out that will determine their season.
• Greg Boone is a guy who can really help the offense if he plays well. He
  is big enough and has good enough feet to block well, and he is athletic
  enough to make plays in the passing game. Sam Wheeler needs to get a little
  more intense on the field.
• Teams are learning that if you stack the line against the Hokies, the Tech
  receivers and Sean Glennon have the ability to beat them through the air.
  That said, the running game needs to get more consistent.
• Beamer said it’s time to stop calling the team young and inexperienced.
  They have played in five games this season, and it’s time to grow up.
• Beamer said he wanted to go for a touchdown on the last drive, rather than
  try a field goal and then kick an onside kick. Brandon Pace has great range,
  and they thought it would be easier to kick a long field goal with just a
  few seconds left rather than trying to get a touchdown.
• The two times that Reggie Ball gave the Hokies a chance to get back in the
  game, they had to settle for two field goals because of a false start and
  dropped passes. That was really tough.
• The BC game will likely be the first game that the Hokies will have their
  full complement of players. Roland Minor will be back at full speed for that
  game. He played in one game against Georgia Tech. Chris Ellis and Josh
  Morgan will be back after serving a one game suspension.
• Beamer said no one is going to scream and yell over the loss. They are
  going to look at film, find the mistakes, and correct them. The players
  could see that the coaching staff went on with business as usual after the
  loss.
• Beamer said this recruiting class is going to be “exceptional”. They
  are in the process of recruiting a lot of juniors since they got such a head
  start for 2007.
• There are a lot of guys who could take over for Brandon Pace next year.
  Jud Dunlevy and Jared Develli have a chance. Brent Bowden will take over for
  Nic Schmitt, and he has looked very good, especially in the JV game on
  Monday.
• Sean Glennon handled himself very well against Georgia Tech. He continues
  to get better every week.
• The offensive line graded out better for the Georgia Tech game. They are
  really battling, and they are getting better. Brandon Gore got to play
  around 20 snaps, and he graded out at 80%.
• A lot of young players got good experience in the JV game on Monday. Jahre
  Cheeseman, Kenny Lewis, Cam Martin, Eric Davis, Antonio North and several
  other players got a lot of valuable playing time.

Monday was Day 674 of Virginia Tech’s continuous possession of the Commonwealth Cup.